


whether wise or foolish we smile

by SparklingFox



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, M/M, also everyone panics about finding a baby but it works out somehow, everyone is here including jinbei, the luzo is pretty gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparklingFox/pseuds/SparklingFox
Summary: In which the Strawhats find an infant, milk a sea cow, and discover that a family can be ten pirates and a baby.





	whether wise or foolish we smile

**Author's Note:**

> I should be in bed but was watching some old clips and I had forgotten about the time Zoro got roped into baby sitting and this ficlet just spawned out of that. Hope you dear readers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

The cry could be heard miles away and they all freeze for a moment as they all process what was making that noise. Everyone immediately discarded what they were doing and scrambled to change the Sunny’s course. Nami’s expression was horrified but her voice was ever steady as she called out directions with Jinbei taking command of the helm. Even Luffy didn’t sit idly at the figurehead, his gaze was searching as he scanned the horizon with his neck stretched outwards.

 

“Oh geez, oh god, wh-what do babies even _need?!_ ” Usopp wailed as he ran below deck.

 

“Special formula, clothes, nurture, and - OH NO! Sanji!” Chopper suddenly shifted into his Guard Point as he exclaimed, his fluffy body gently rolling towards the cook even as he frantically continued to shout out the nutritional needs of babies.

 

Brook’s does pirouettes on deck while he held up shaking hands up to his face, “A baby! Who would leave such a treasure in the middle of the sea?! I’m so distraught that my face will fall off! Oh my I don’t have a face to begin with!” He briefly laughed at his joke but paused and quickly leaped over to Nami to ask how he could assist.

 

Robin conversed quietly with Franky who seemed to be pitching ideas at her because she quietly and pointedly replied after a minute, “No, Franky. A baby doesn’t need a rocket powered crib.”

 

“Awe, but it would be _super_! Oh! What about a miniature version of the Sunny?”

 

“That’s more acceptable,” Robin said with a smile and patted him on the shoulder with a newly sprouted arm. Franky victoriously shouted a out _‘Super!’_ and slammed his arms over his head in his signature pose.

 

Zoro stared at the chaos on the deck and stepped to the side as a distressed Usopp ran past him with an armful of clothes.

 

“What size are babies?!”

 

“I don’t know, baby sized?” Franky replied.

 

“What does that even mean?!”

 

He ignores the urge to rub his face as he watched Usopp flail with scissors and Chopper attempt to stuff himself into the kitchen while still being in Guard Point, he thinks he sees the cook’s arms poking out of the mass of fur and snorted, before he turned around and walked towards the head of the ship. Zoro stopped at the railing and leaned on it, arms folded, and stared out at the horizon with his captain.

 

“Do you see it?”

 

“Nah, but we’re getting closer. Hey, Zoro. Why would anyone leave a baby all by itself at sea?” Luffy sounded odd and it takes him a moment to realize it was worry that filled his voice.

 

“Who knows,” Zoro said, wanting to end it there but after a moment he sighed, “We’ll take care of it and figure out what happened.”

 

Luffy looked back at him and smiled, bright and warm, before snapping his attention back to the task at hand. After some minutes he started bouncing on the figurehead, “I see something! Oi Nami! There’s something ahead of us!”

 

Once they were close enough Jinbei dove off the ship and closed the distance in seconds with powerful strokes that cut through the water. He pushed the makeshift raft back towards them and Robin carefully lifted the wailing baby up onto the deck with many gentle arms.

 

All ten of them surrounded the human baby clad in nothing but a blanket as they started to cry even louder at from the sudden change of their surroundings. The younger crewmembers started panicking again.

 

“We need to calm them down before Chopper can take a look at it,” Zoro said while standing the farthest away.

 

Nami gently scooped up the baby and rocked them in her arms, “Honestly, you guys need to keep it together or else you’ll make them even more afraid.”

 

“Sorry!”

 

“It looks awfully tiny. Is it a newborn?” Usopp asked hesitantly. 

 

The baby continued to cry even as Nami whispered endearments in a soothing tone.

 

“I think the baby’s hungry,” Luffy said as he squatted down next to Nami and stared down at them.

 

Of course he would know the sound of hunger and at that moment Sanji ran out of the kitchen with a tray. The cook froze when he spotted Nami but contrary to what Zoro expected the cook doesn’t spout nonsense with hearts in his eyes but instead he recovered himself and walked over. Between the cook, Nami, and Chopper they figured out a successful way to feed the baby.

 

“There was a message in the bottle next to the baby,” Jinbei spoke as he held up the letter, “It says: _Her name is Chi._ _Please take care of her, our village was attacked by raiders._ What a horrible circumstance for this family to abandon their child to the sea, we must find what island she’s from and offer aid.”

 

Robin crossed her arms across her chest, “If they’re still alive. But it must have happened very recently for Chi to have survived until we found her.”

 

“Alright! Let’s go find that island everyone!”

 

At Luffy’s shout the baby began crying all over again after finally having quieted down after her meal. In a blink of an eye Luffy is face down on the deck with several bumps on his head from an enraged Nami.

 

~*~

 

Chopper, after he flipped through several textbook concerning pediatric care, announced that Chi was a healthy and an approximately five month old baby. In the first few days they discovered that the baby liked being held the most by Jinbei, Nami, and surprisingly Brook (who was overjoyed but also terrified that his bones could harm her). She didn’t like it when Luffy stretched his face to try and make her laugh (it made her cry instead much to Luffy’s despair). She would only go to bed after a kiss from Nami and being rocked by Robin while Brook sung a lullaby. She loved to climb all over Franky and left drool marks almost everywhere but the cyborg just laughed at her antics as she tried to chew on his metal parts.

 

Whenever it was Zoro’s turn to watch her she always tried to make a grab for his earrings and sat entranced when he trained. The baby also liked to paint and play hide and seek with Usopp and Chopper. After a lapse of inattention from her sitters, she managed to crawl her way into the kitchen and smear tiny, colorful hand-prints of paint all over Sanji’s immaculate black pants as he prepared food. The cook didn’t seem at all bothered by the mess but he still shouted to the high heavens at them for not keeping all eyes on Chi while gently bouncing her on his leg as she squealed with joy.

 

Nami and Usopp made a number of clothes at a lightning quick speed for her and the crew constantly cooed at her adorableness. Currently she was with Jinbei on the benches surrounding the foremast, still so very tiny in his large hands as she tried to climb towards his face and inspect his very shiny teeth.

 

“Ah, no little one. My tusks are rather sharp.”

 

Unperturbed by that fact she continued her attempts for a few more minutes before getting distracted by the tattoo on his chest. As Jinbei murmured about the meaning of the tattoo Zoro turned his attention to his captain who was draped over the railing above.

 

“Zoro-o, she’s scared of me,” He said pitifully and if possible, went even more limp -at this point he looked like a strung out noodle.

 

Zoro climbed up the stairs and adjusted the straw hat threatening to be blown away by the wind, “You shouldn’t make scary faces at her then.” Luffy let out a long whine with a wobbly lower lip, and Zoro just sighed as he spoke again, “Maybe try approaching her with a toy? Or food.”

 

His captain perked up at that immediately and clapped his hands together with a laugh, “That’s a great idea! Alright, I’m gonna go get her food!”

 

He propels off somewhere and Zoro just goes back down the stairs. As he passed by Jinbei the helmsman looked up rather guiltily.

 

“Ah, Zoro could you help me with changing her diaper?”

 

Everyone asked that because they unanimously pinned the duty to him when Robin offhandedly mentioned that indeed, Zoro had experience with taking care small helpless children, a total three of them to be exact. Curse that woman for remembering _that_ incident from Water 7, curse her and her steel trap of a mind.

 

Zoro deflated and sighed in a suffering manner before he grumbled, “Yeah, let me go get the bag.”

 

It shouldn’t have surprised anyone, least of all him, when a little after that Luffy laughed almost manically (that never boded well) as he wrestled up a fucking _sea cow_ on deck.

 

“Look! I brought Chi milk!” He sounded so happy about it too.

 

“That’s really not what I meant.”

 

But in the name of intellectual and morbid curiosity they had Sanji, since he drew the short straw, try and milk the damn thing much to the creature’s dismay. By whatever luck operated when it came to Luffy and his shenanigans, he had caught a female sea cow and the milk from it was rich and flavorful (Zoro really doesn’t want to know how he even did it).

 

However, Chi still cried when she saw Luffy.

 

~*~

 

After sailing for a few more days Nami stated they’ve reached the island where Chi was from, calculated from weather patterns and ocean currents and a whole list of things that went over most of their heads. As they approached there were thick trails of black smoke coming from the middle of the island and spots two pirate ships were docked at the beach. Chi was crying in Nami’s arms.

 

“Alright! We’re gonna go kick their asses,” Luffy declared before he turned and approached the baby, “Hey, I promise we’re gonna find your family okay? Hang in there a little longer Chi.”

 

When he smiled Chi hiccuped and somehow she must’ve understood his intent because she returned a watery smile of her own.

 

The Strawhats landed on the island and true to their captain’s words they kicked a lot of asses right off it. The survivors were beyond overjoyed and grateful, and they managed to find Chi’s mother who broke down into heaving sobs when she saw her daughter alive and well. There were more than a good share of tears from the Strawhats as well when they said they finally had to say their goodbyes a day later.

 

“Bye Chi! Make sure to grow up and become a great pirate, okay?!” Luffy shouted through his tears from the Sunny as he waved.

 

That night when they settled into their beds in the men’s quarters someone shifted in their hammock and sighed.

 

“I miss her giggles.”

 

“Me too, she was so cute.”

 

“Remember when she tried to ride on top of Chopper? Man, that was adorable.”

 

“I think she was trying to say my name the other day.”

 

“You sure about that?”

 

“Yeah! She was saying ‘Sa-sa’, I almost died.”

 

Zoro cracked open his eye when he felt someone drop on top of him, already knowing who it was he reached forward and ran his fingers through Luffy’s hair. His captain whined and buried his face into his chest and mumbled.

 

“If you want, we can come back to this island at a later point to see how she’s doing,” Zoro murmured in reply.

 

It was meant for Luffy but everyone suddenly piped up with their agreements and Zoro snarled at them for being nosy idiots, which devolved into a shouting match between him and Sanji before Nami finally yelled at them to shut up from the upper levels. Afterwards everyone settled back and eventually fell asleep. He shifted a little bit and continued to rub soothing little circles into Luffy’s back as rubber arms wrapped around his neck.

 

“You miss her too, right?”

 

“Yeah, a little.” He couldn’t really lie about it.

 

“We’ll make sure to see her again. G’night Zoro.” Luffy whispered and stretched up to place a sweet kiss on his lips, smiling into it before tucking himself by his side. Warmth spreads through his body and Zoro lightly squeezed his shoulder as a response, his smile hidden by the darkness of the room.

 

The night is quiet and calm and Brook is humming a lullaby in his sleep.


End file.
